Leap
by Jaaannn
Summary: "A mind is like a parachute. It doesn't work if it is not open." Hermione hears voices in her head that aren't hers, but whose are they exactly? She seeks for help and finds it in an unexpected person.


A/N: Yay new story! This one will probably get finished because I have loads of free time on my hands and loads of inspiration for this story. Anyway, they won the war, Snape didn't die and the previous seventh years are back for their eighth year!

Disclaimer: Last time I checked I don't own the magical world of Harry Potter.

**Chapter 1: know your allies**

Something must have gone terrible wrong one way or another. Hermione was sitting in the library, trying to get a few more hours of studying before she absolutely had to go to bed. Except that she couldn't focus at all. There were countless voices in her head and they weren't _hers._ She tried to unknot the sounds, but nothing worked. It started last week, after her private lesson with Professor Snape. They had tried something new, something Snape wasn't sure about, because he had only succeeded in making it once, himself. Hermione had reasoned with him and told him that because she wanted a career in potions, she had to know everything about every single potion. So that's why Snape had finally allowed her to make it. Hermione opened her textbook on the page she had marked and read the small bit of information on her current project for the umpteenth time.

_Aperindi is not a difficult potion to make, though potion makers must be careful when creating this powerful drink. It has its powers, but with power comes burden. If made correctly, the potion will start working even before it's been drunken. Solely the fumes of the potion will be strong enough to create an effect on its maker. The fumes of Aperindi won't hurt the maker, but too much exposure to the fumes can cause unpleasant side effects._

Hermione sighed as she rubbed her head. She marked the page she read the information on and checked her watch and saw that it was 10.45 pm. She had been researching the potion for over an hour and still hadn't found what caused the voices in her head. Hermione did know that the voices ended after eleven, mostly. It seemed to start around breakfast, when she sat in the Great Hall with her friends and housemates. It was the worst during the day, she could barely focus, so much sound was in her head. She sighed and decided that she would try the last book on the stack next to her, and then she would go to bed. She scanned the cover. "Side-effects and potions-gone-wrong by Addie McMad." On the first page was a quote written in what seemed female handwriting, with loops and curls and perfectly neat lettering.

"_Ships that pass in the night, and speak each other in passing, _

_only a signal shown, and a distant voice in the darkness; _

_So on the ocean of life, we pass and speak one another, _

_only a look and a voice, then darkness again and a silence."_

_- __Henry Wadsworth Longfellow__ (Muggle poet)_

Hermione frowned. The quote seemed to describe exactly what was happening inside her head. The voices weren't clear; they were muffled. They were more of a distant murmuring than anything else. They also seemed to get louder whenever she was talking to someone and they stopped at night. She turned the book around and looked for the person who used to own this book. After turning a few pages, she found it. "_This book belongs to Andromeda Black." _Suddenly, Hermione was wide-awake. This book had belonged to Tonk's mum, the sister of Bellatrix Black, and Narcissa Black. She shook her head and decided to call it a night, but not before she put the book in her bag for research purposes. She would ask Harry about Andromeda tomorrow. On the way back to Gryiffindor Tower she noticed that the voices in her head had calmed down considerably. Only a few murmurs were heard in the background, it seemed.

_Merlin's beard, this is getting out of hand._ Hermione looked up in shock and checked her surroundings. She had heard a louder voice in her head and it wasn't her own thinking voice. When she turned the corner, she saw Professor Snape walking towards her, side-by-side with professor Sprout. Professor Sprout seemed to lecture him about one thing or another, probably the recently discovered healing effects of gillyweed. _Could this woman be any more daft?_ There it was again. Hermione looked at her professors dumbfounded. It couldn't be. Was she hearing Snape's voice in her head? Could she read _minds?_ Snape must've noticed her, because he was waving for her to carry on. Hermione smiled quickly and thanked Merlin for the fact that Snape's voluminous cloak blocked Sprout's sight.

He would never admit it, but Severus Snape had a soft spot for Hermione Granger. In the prejudiced world that they lived in, she had everything against her, yet she proved everybody wrong time and time again. She was the brains behind the Golden Trio, the brightest girl in centuries and loyal, brave and honest on top of that. He would never openly admit it because she was a Gryffindor girl, but she was one of his favorite students, especially because she wanted pursue a career in potions, not something most young people were interested in. When he walked further, he started to think of an escape plan to get rid of Pomona.

Back in the tower, Hermione opened the book she took from the library. Sitting down on the comfy chair by the fire, she opened the book and flipped the pages until she found was she was looking for.

"_Aperindi potion_

_Known and most common side effects of the Aperini potion are headaches, shaky hands and baldness. However, these effects will only occur after long and incessive use of the potion. Other side effects include itching between the toes, change of hair color and deterioration of eye sight. Beware: the potion has been known to cause other side effects, most of which aren't discovered yet. Individuals who discover a side effect that hasn't been named are to contact the author to have the side effect included in the list on the last page of this chapter."_

Hermione quickly turned the pages until she found the list and quickly scanned it. She dragged her finger down the page and read all kinds of discovered side-effects (boils, gassiness, nausea, excessive nail growth and other not-so-pretty effects) until she reached the end of the list, where a side-effect was added to the list in the same neat handwriting that was on the first page.

"_Involuntary mind-reading."_

* * *

"Harry, do you still talk to Andromeda?" It was eight in the morning and breakfast had just started. Hermione dropped two sugars in her tea and stirred the hot beverage, hoping it would provide her some comfort. She had barely slept last night, thinking about what she read in Andromeda's book. Usually she would get a cup of coffee, but she had noticed the past few days that the voices got louder after she'd had coffee, so she really hoped the sugar would help her start up a little.

Harry looked up from staring at Ginny, who was on the other side of the table, a few meters away. They had been in a fight yesterday, and even though Hermione didn't know (and didn't _want_ to know) the finer details of it, she knew it had not been pretty. "What?" Hermione rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Do you still talk to Andromeda?"

"Yeah, why?" He turned his face towards her, fully concentrated. "Well, I just wanted to ask her a few things about.. potions. You know she was a star when she went here." Harry stared at her for a few moments, no doubt wondering why Hermione wanted to talk to his godson's grandmother. Hermione kept looking at her breakfast, feeling Harry's stare burn. "Are Snape's lessons too hard, Hermione? I mean, do you need help or something?" Hermione looked up at her friend. "No, the lessons are fine. I just wanted to talk to someone who knows just as much about potions and who _doesn't_ hate me," she joked. Harry shrugged. "I'll give you her address, if you want?" Hermione smiled in gratitude. "That'd be great, thanks."

That afternoon, Hermione penned a letter to Andromeda. After twelve hesitant letters; which she knew would confuse the older witch into thinking her sanity was lost, she decided that a little information and the request to meet up would have to suffice.

"_Dear Andromeda,_

_How have you been? I hear great things about Teddy and I hope all is well with you two. I still think about Tonks and Remus a lot, I miss them dearly._

_I have a question to ask you. Since a few days, I've been hearing voices in my head. Not the bad kind you see on television, but actual voices. I went to the library to research what it could be and I found a book that used to belong to you. It was '_Side-effects and potions-gone-wrong by Addie McMad.'. _On the cover it said the book used to belong to you, and I remember that you added a specific side-effect to the Aperindi Potion. I've been getting extra potion lessons from Snape because I want to get a job in the potions field, which is why we tried Aperindi in the first place. I just wondered if you could tell me a little about it? I'm not sure who else I could tell this too, Ron and Harry will probably think I'm going crazy because I've been so busy and Snape didn't want to try this in the first place, which is why I don't want to bother him with it. _

_We're going to Hogsmeade next weekend, would you like to get a cup of tea with me? Maybe you could bring Teddy, as well. It would be lovely to see him again and I'm sure Harry and Ron would like it, too._

_I hope to hear from you soon. Take care,_

_Hermione Granger._"

* * *

After a week of no coffee, exhausting classes and unwanted noises in her head, the weekend was finally there. Andromeda had answered Hermione's letter with understanding and agreed to meet her. She would bring Teddy, partly so that Harry and Ron would be distracted and partly because Teddy had been talking about 'uncle Hawwy' for weeks now.

The sun was out and the first sunshine of the year warmed everybody who decided to go to Hogsmeade. The eighth years could go off the grounds whenever they wanted, as long as their classes didn't suffer and they were back at the castle by dark. Hermione sat on the grass near Hogsmeade, next to Andromeda who had just arrived. Teddy had ran off with Harry and Ron and Hermione could see them play hide and seek in the distance. She took a sip of the hot chocolate the older woman had brought. "So, explain the situation to me," Andromeda said while she cast a quick glance at where Harry and Ron were playing with Teddy.

Hermione coughed and closed her eyes to remember how it had started. "Well, as I explained in my letter, I'm getting extra classes from Snape. He teaches me all kinds of things that we would never learn if we just followed the schedule that Hogwarts made. Three weeks ago I asked him about potions that he found hard to make, and when he told me about this potion I researched it in the library. Two days after when I saw him again, I asked him if he wanted to make the potion with me, but he refused. After a while tough he caved and he gave decided to help me," Hermione said. She took a minute to collect her thoughts. "I think that the voices started after the second afternoon I worked on the potion. They started out quietly at first but after that they got louder and now when I'm in a crowded room I can barely hear my own thoughts. It was then when I went into the library and found your book," she explained. Andromeda kept looking at Hermione as she sipped from her own cup. "That's exactly what happened to me," she stated. Hermione's face turned from worried to hopeful. "Can you help me? Have you controlled it? How does it work? Are there books on it?" Andromeda smirked as she saw the young woman in front of her move her hands busily and motioned for Hermione to slow down.

"Yes, I controlled it and I'm sure you can do it, too. It's difficult, but not impossible." Hermione looked up when Andromeda fell quiet. "You're going to need someone to help you, though," Andromeda thoughtfully said. Hermione smiled. "Can't you help me?" Andromeda nodded. "I surely can, but I can't come over to Hogwarts every day and you can't come over to me every day. I think I have someone in mind, but I'm going to have to ask him first. I'll let you know as soon as I have his answer and then you can get started. In the meantime, try to drink a lot of water with a few drops of Dreamless Sleep potion, I have noticed it helps draw the voices out, dull them, so to say."

The afternoon ended with all of them grabbing a bite to eat at the Hog's Head, and after a lot of kisses for Teddy and all kinds of promises to catch up shortly, Andromeda and her grandson were off.

The next evening, Hermione went up to the Owlery to see if there were any letters for her. She had had a few glasses of water with a drop of Dreamless Sleep potion, and she had noticed that it worked quite well. She was glad that Andromeda had warned her about the addicting effects of it, so that Hermione knew not to drink more than three glasses per day. Hermione shielded her eyes from the wind that was blowing when she reached the Owlery. When she had reached the top, she paused a minute to admire the view she had from this high. The sun was just about to set and coloured the sky a beautiful mixture of pink, purple and dark blue. When she heard footsteps behind her, she turned around. "Oh," she said, and sighed as she saw who it was.

"Oh? That's how you greet me?" Draco mocked and he smirked as he walked past her. "You better change your way of greeting me, Granger. I'm sure we'll see a lot more of each other in the near future." Hermione frowned as she watched his form. Strange. She and Malfoy weren't on bad terms after the war, given that equality and treating one another with respect was what they had fought for, but she didn't think they were exactly friends, either. She shrugged it off and walked into the Owlery, where Andromeda's owl was waiting for her with a letter in its beak. She petted the owl and fetched it a treat from the jar on the shelf while she opened the letter.

_Dear Hermione,_

_As promised, here's my letter with hopefully some kind of solution. You see, you and I weren't the only ones affected by the Aperindi potion. I already said it wouldn't be possible for me to come over every day to help you and it wouldn't work the other way, either. Luckily for you (I think) there's someone else in Hogwarts right now who can help you. I think you've met him, he's my cousin: Draco Malfoy. I've asked him yesterday if he would mind helping you and he said he would do it. Remember that you can always write me with questions and for advice._

_Please seek Draco out; he'll know what to do._

_Take care,_

_Andromeda._


End file.
